1. Field
The present invention relates to a product security system, in which machine-readable items of information are applied to products. Data pertaining to the product are provided centrally in a database.
2. Related Art
Machine-readable items of information can for example be applied to products in the form of RFID labels or bar codes. It is known that a producer of the product equips a product with an RFIC label and provides data connected with the product in a database of a third party. For example a yogurt container with a certain expiration date can store a product ID in the RFID label. Allocated to the product ID, the expiration date is stored in the central database. The end customer can read out the RFID label with his RFID capable mobile phone, send the read product ID to the database and receives reliable information about the expiration date of the product as a response.
It is also known to use such a system for providing sensitive or confidential information which is to be accessible only for certain addressees. For example in the database there can be stored confidential delivery information which is allocated to the product ID and which may be retrieved from the database exclusively by authorized instances, for example the recipient of the delivery.